On
April 9, Hassam Hadad watched live television coverage
of U.S. marines pulling down a statue of Saddam Hussein
in Baghdad and said it seemed like a dream. Eight months
later he sat glued to the television watching coverage
of the only thing better than the dream: the capture
of Saddam Hussein himself.

Hassan
Hadad watches the television coverage of the capture
of Saddam Hussein.

This
is an excellent day, he said.

I
know I can go back to Iraq in the future and help my
country prosper without fear, because theres no
way Saddam will ever be back to torture the people.

Hadad,
an Iraqi expatriot and economics student at Dalhousie
University, said he first heard about Husseins
capture at 6:30 a.m. yesterday and didnt stop
watching the news all day.

He
said his family in Baghdad, including his brother and
mother who are visiting there, were elated about the
news.

Its
amazing (in Baghdad), everybodys just going crazy
over there, he said. Everybodys really
happy, and theyre firing off their guns in celebration.

Other
Iraqi families in Halifax had previously criticized
U.S. President George W. Bush for the Iraq invasion,
but Hadad supported the military action as a means to
the end of Husseins rule.

Over
half a million Iraqis tried to get rid of Hussein before
the U.S. invasion and paid with their lives for it,
he said.

They
proved we couldnt do it alone and so we accepted
that we needed the coalition to get rid of Saddam Hussein....